Parents of LSU’s Alleged Hazing Victim Speak Out

On September 14, 2017, Rae Ann and Stephen Gruver's lives changed forever. On that day, they received the news that no parent wants to hear, their son Maxwell Gruver had died. Max was a freshman at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. At the time of his death, Max had only been attending LSU for nearly a month. The circumstances surrounding his death have continued to make headlines. It is alleged that Max Gruver died because of a hazing incident conducted by members of the Ten Phi Delta Thea Fraternity. The allegation is that Max was forced to drink 190 proof grain alcohol resulting in his blood alcohol level being six times the legal limit.

As you may recall, members of the fraternity were arrested. However, at this time the case is still unresolved. Max Gruver's parents are not waiting for court to decide what to do. They along with Evelyn and Jim Piazza the parents of Timothy Piazza, a Penn State student who died after an alleged hazing incident, have decided to take action. This past weekend the families got together with other families who have lost children to hazing to create an action plan for how families need to deal with legislation for hazing incidents and to be a support group for one another.

The Gruver family hopes to make changes to Louisiana's current hazing laws that will result in making hazing a deterrent on college campuses. On February 21st, the Louisiana State University President's Task Force on Greek Life made recommendations that included a code of conduct. You can read their report here. In the video above you can hear what the Gruver and Piazza families said on Good Morning America about their plans for the future.

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